


Divorce

by J_E_McCormick



Category: Jurassic Park (1993), Jurassic Park (Movies)
Genre: Gen, just some character backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4159110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_E_McCormick/pseuds/J_E_McCormick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, Lex? Why isn’t Dad around anymore?”</p><p>Lex blinks at her computer screen, then twists around to look at her brother. </p><p>“Because him and Mom are getting a divorce, Timmy.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divorce

**Author's Note:**

> Self-indulgent character study and backstory fic of the Murphy siblings. Whoop.

“Hey, Lex? Why isn’t Dad around anymore?”

Lex blinks at her computer screen, then twists around to look at her brother. He’s lying on his stomach on her bed, reading one of his books. She hadn’t wanted him hanging around in her room, but her mother had insisted she play nice and let him spend some time with her. Until now, it had actually been fine – Tim had been quietly reading, and Lex had been on her computer.

“Because him and Mom are getting a divorce, Timmy.” Lex replies, trying not to sound too clipped. Their parents’ divorce hurt her deeply.

“What’s that?” Tim asked, kicking his legs a little behind him. Lex sighs.

“It means Mom and Dad won’t be together anymore.” She explains. “Dad’s going to go and… and live somewhere else, without Mom and us.” Lex turns back to her computer screen so Tim can’t see the way her face falls. “So we’ll live here with Mom, and we won’t see Dad much anymore.”

“Oh.” Tim says, and for a while, that’s it; the room goes quiet again and Lex presumes Tim has gone back to reading his book. After a moment, the silence is broken again.

“Why?” Tim asks quietly. Before Lex can reply he adds; “Is it because of me?”

“Wha- Timmy, why would it be because of you?” Lex asks, surprised. Tim bites his lip, looking down at his book.

“Because Dad’s disappointed in me.” Tim murmurs. “Because I don’t like sports and stuff. He’s always been disappointed about that. He thinks I should play baseball and go to games with you guys instead of just reading and going to museums. He’s never been as proud of me as he is of you.”

“That’s not it Timmy.” Lex tells him gently, going over to sit next to him. Her brother is hardly ever so quiet or sad – seeing him like this makes something in Lex’s chest tighten, makes her feel almost frightened. She’s not used to seeing Tim genuinely upset, nor is she used to being the one to look after him. “It’s… It’s that Mom and Dad don’t love each other anymore. They’re divorcing because they fight a lot and they don’t want to do that anymore. It’s not your fault.”

Tim looks up at her for a long moment, searching her face, and Lex tries to look as assuring as she can. Eventually he nods and looks down again.

“Alright.” He says. Lex pats his shoulder gently. Tim sighs. “You’re sad about him going. I know you are.”

This time it’s Lex who looks down at her own lap. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“You’ll still get to see him sometimes. I bet he’ll still take you to games. He loves taking you to games.” Tim says, obviously trying to cheer her up. Lex smiles weakly.

“Yeah, Timmy. I’m sure he will.” She murmurs, even though she hasn’t seen her father in weeks now and she gets the feeling he’s just left them for good, never to return. The abandonment feels like a stab through the chest. But, she thinks, Timmy doesn’t need to know that.

“Anyway,” She says, standing up and crossing back over to her desk, “don’t worry about it, Timmy. Mom said we’re going to see Grandpa in a few weeks – just looks forward to that.”

Tim grins widely, finally seeming back in his usual high spirits. “Yeah! She said we’d get to stay a whole weekend. I bet Grandpa has something cool to do while we’re there. And more presents!” He cheers.

“You shouldn’t be so greedy, Timmy.” Lex chides him playfully. “You’ve already had loads of presents.”

“But Grandpa _always_ has presents.” Tim says, grinning at her and laughing. Lex shakes her head at her brother, turning back to her computer.

“Just a couple of weeks, Timmy. Then we can have fun and not have to worry about anything.” She says.

“Yeah.” Tim nods, looking back at his book. “I bet it’ll be great.”

Lex smiles, and the two of them fall into comfortable quiet again, only the tapping of keys and turning of pages breaking the silence.


End file.
